Vessel-cleaning apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for cleaning the interior walls of a vessel utilizing fluid under high pressure. The portion of the device carrying the fluid nozzle assembly is adapted to be inserted through an opening into the interior vessel. The apparatus may utilize one or more nozzle assemblies mounted on a support frame which is rotatable around the vertical axis of the vessel by a drive mechanism that remains outside of the vessel being cleaned. A support assembly has a fixed portion resting on the cleaning apparatus and permits rotation of the portion of the apparatus within the vessel that carries the high pressure nozzle assemblies. A reciprocating mechanism is carried by the rotating portion of the apparatus whereby the nozzle angle may be continually changed to provide movement of the nozzles about the radial axis of the vessel being cleaned. By simultaneous rotation of the nozzle assemblies around the axis of the vessel movement of the nozzle head through a radial arc, the high pressure fluid from the nozzles cleans the entire area of the vessel without excessive overlap. For elongated, cylindrical vessels, a plurality of nozzles are provided for cleaning the upper and lower half of the vessel, respectively. Such nozzles can be operated independently or simultaneously.

United States Patent [72] Inventors [21] AppLNo. 22y Filed [45] Patented 73 Assi ne [54] VIESEL-CLEANING APPARATUS 12 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI 134/167, 134/56, 239/227 [51] lnt.Cl., B05b3/l2, B05b 3/14, B08b 3/02 [50] 134156, 167,167 C, 168, 169; 239/227; 15/304 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,029,795 2/ 1936 Richard 239/227 2,082,330 6/1937 Frede et a1 239/227 2,105,458 l/1938 Johnson 239/227 2,109,075 2/1938 239/227 2,116,935 5/1938 Richard et a1. 239/227 2,239,198 4/1941 Ostling etal 239/227 2,933,093 4/1960 Handyside.... 134/168 3,001,534 9/1961 Grant 239/227 X 3,140,828 7/1964 Galanor 239/227 3,420,444 H1969 Ajnefors H 239/227 3,472,451 10/1969 Orem l34/167X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,156,625 8 10/1963 Germany 134/167 Primary ExaminerDaniel Blum Attorney-Donald L. Johnson ABSTRACT: An apparatus for cleaning the interior walls of a vessel utilizing fluid under high pressure. The portion of the device carrying the fluid nozzle assembly is adapted to be inserted through an opening into the interior vessel. The apparatus may utilize one or more nozzle assemblies mounted on a support frame which is rotatable around the vertical axis of the vessel by a drive mechanism that remains outside of the vessel being cleaned. A support assembly has a fixed portion resting on the cleaning apparatus and permits rotation of the portion of the apparatus within the vessel that carries the high pressure nozzle assemblies. A reciprocating mechanism is carried by the rotating portion of the apparatus whereby the nozzle angle may be continually changed to provide movement of the nozzles about the radial axis of the vessel being cleaned. By simultaneous rotation of the nozzle assemblies around the axis of the vessel movement of the nozzle head through a radial arc, the high pressure fluid from the nozzles cleans the entirearea of the vessel without excessive overlap. For elongated, cylindrical vessels, a plurality of nozzles are provided for cleaning the upper and lower half of the vessel, respectively. Such nozzles can be operated independently or simultaneously.

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VESSEL-CLEANING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning the interior walls of vessels by utilizing fluid under high pressure. The device is particularly adapted for cleaning the interior of autoclaves used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride resin.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior methods of cleaning large vessels, particularly autoclaves used to manufacture thennoplastic resins such as polyvinyl chloride, have required extensive time and use of a large amount of manual labor to remove the film of resin deposited on the walls of the vessel after each polymerization cycle. One method used heretofore has been to wet the vessel walls with a solvent for the resin and then scrape the softened resin from the walls using hand labor. Other techniques have been to scrub the walls with brushes and scrapers either by hand or using power-driven tools/All of the foregoing require that workmen enter the autoclaves, which poses some danger to the workmen because of ventilation problems. Time required for cleaning a ZOO-gallon autoclave by hand when using two men with putty knife scrapers has been found to be from about 30 to about 90 minutes when the autoclave has been in suspension polyvinyl chloride resin manufacturing service. The apparatus of the present invention will normally clean the autoclave in about to minutes without requiring that the vessel be entered by a workman.

SUMMARY OF THE. INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for cleaning large cylindrical vessels to remove deposits of material adhering to the walls of the vessel.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for the interior walls of a vessel which device can be easily inserted into the vessel and which does not have anyparts directly contacting the interior wall of the vessel.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel which apparatus utilizes fluid under high pressure to effect the cleaning.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for the interior of vessel by means of a fluid under high pressure which provides for programmed sequential coverage of the complete interior surface of the vessel walls without extensive overlap.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of fluid under high pressure which apparatus provides a flexible schedule for the cleaning steps involved.

The foregoing and additional objects are realized in an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of fluid under high pressure which includes at least one nozzle head assembly providing at least one port therein for ejecting a stream of fluid under high pressure. Suitable means to support the nozzle assembly on the interior of the vessel are provided. Means are provided to supply fluid under high pressure for the nozzle head assembly. Further means to rotate the nozzle head assembly about the longitudinal axis of the vessel are provided. Additional means to move the nozzle head assembly about the radial axis of the vessel are provided.

The above objects can be carried out using a more specific form of an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of fluid under high pressure. The apparatus includes a generally rectangular upper framework for lifting the apparatus; A support assembly for supporting the apparatus on the vessel is attached to the lower end of the upper framework. The support assembly has a rotatable portion and a fixed portion. A first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying the fluid is mounted above and attached to the rotatable portion of the support assembly. At least one conduit for the fluid extends from the rotating joint through the rotatable portion of the support assembly into the interior of the vessel. At least one nozzle head assembly is connected to the conduit through a second rotatable joint and is mounted to be'movable around the radial axis of the vessel. A linking assembly is attached to the nozzle assembly at its lower end and has its upper end extending above the rotatable portion of the support assembly. A first drive assembly is connected to the upper end of the linking assembly whereby the nozzle assembly can be moved about the radial axis of the vessel. A second drive assembly is coupled to the rotatable portion of the support assembly whereby the nozzle assembly, together with other assemblies attached to the rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the vessel.

The high-pressure fluid cleaning apparatus of the present invention preferentially is constructed to utilize two nozzle head assemblies carried by a support framework which is conveniently lowered into the vessel to be cleaned by an operator using a hoist. Each nozzle head assembly preferably has two or more oppositely disposed ports which eject streams of highpressure fluid against the walls of the vessel to effect the cleaning thereof. A variable speed drive mechanism is used to rotate the support framework and thus the nozzle head assembly in a circular path around the longitudinal axis of the vessel. A second variable speed drive mechanism is coupled to a longitudinally movable linking assembly which rotates the nozzles up and down around the radial axis of the vessel. By simultaneous operation of the two drive mechanisms, multiple streams of fluid under high pressure progressively move over the entire area of the wall surface of the vessel interior without wasted overlap. In the preferred mode of construction of the device, the nozzle head assemblies may be operated singly or in conjunction with each other. Additionally, the drive mechanisms employ variable speed transmission gearboxes whereby a number of different rates may be used for both rotating the nozzles and elevating and depressing the nozzles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the cleaning device of the present invention positioned on a cylindrical vessel for cleaning the interior thereof;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of FIG. 2 along the line 3-3 FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along the line 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a partial elevational sectional view of FIG. 4 along the line 5 -5;

.FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. ll along the line 6-6; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along the line 77; FIG. 8 is an elevational sectional view of FIG. 7 along the line 8-8; FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the lower portion of the cleaning device in a vessel showing the difierent positions of the cleaning nozzles during a normal cleaning cycle;

FIG. 10 is a schematic showing the flow of the cleaning fluid and the compressed air for the driving means;

FIG. llis an enlarged elevational sectional view of the high pressure rotating joint shown in FIG. 12 with the rotatable portion thereof rotated FIG. 12 is an enlarged top plan view of the high pressure rotating joint used in the apparatus of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is an elevational perspective view, partially in section, of the ball screw actuator mechanism. Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring now to FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention is designated generally by the numeral 20. The device is shown positioned in a vertically extending, generally cylindrical vessel 21. The vessel has cylindrical sidewalls having an interior surface 22. The vessel has a lower end closure 23 and an upper end closure 24 providing an open top manway section 25 extending upwardly therefrom. It is understood that while the vessel 21 shown in FIG. 1 is.

disposed in the vertical position, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention is also suitable for cleaning vessels disposed in a generally horizontal position. It may also be used to clean spherical-shaped vessels.

The cleaning device includes an upper section which extends above the manway on the vessel 21 and a lower portion carrying the cleaning assembly which extends through the manway 25 into the interior of the vessel. As seen best in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upper portion of the cleaning apparatus is provided with a generally rectangular lifting framework designated generally by the numeral 26. This framework includes an upper horizontal member 27 providing an opening 27a, therein for attaching a hoist assembly (not shown) to the apparatus for placing the cleaning apparatus in the vessel and removing it therefrom. A pair of vertically extending members 28 are attached at their upper ends to the horizontal member 27. Lower horizontal members 29-29 (see FIG. 4) are attached to and extend between oppositely disposed vertical members 28-28. Crossmembers 30-30 connect the lower ends of the vertically extending members 28 together and also are rigidly attached to the outward ends of the lower horizontal members 29-29 to provide a rigid, generally rectangularshaped lifting framework 26. The inner ends of the crossmembers 29-29 are attached, by welding or other suitable means, to support assembly designated generally by the numeral 31, for supporting the cleaning apparatus on the top of the manway 25 of the vessel 21.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the support assembly 31 includes an outer, generally cylindrical, nonrotating housing 32 which has a generally T-shaped flange at the bottom thereof with an outwardly extending portion 33 and an inwardly extending portion 34. The outwardly extending portion of the flange 33 rests on a generally L-shaped annular collar 35 which rests on the upper end of the manway 25 to support the cleaning assembly on the vessel 21. The nonrotating housing 32 is provided with similar upper flanged portion at the top thereof having an outwardly extending portion 36 and an inwardly extending portion 37. Each of the top and bottom flanges provided on housing 32 may be integrally formed therewith or may be attached thereto by welding or other suitable means. The inwardly extending portion 34 of the bottom flange is provided with an upper recess 38 and a lower recess 39. A lower annular bearing assembly 40 is seated in the upper recess 38. A resilient seal 41 is seated in the lower recess 39.

The upper, inwardly extending flange portion 37 has an upper bearing assembly 42 attached to the outer end thereof, together with an upper resilient oil seal 41a. An inner rotating cylindrical housing 43 is attached to and supporting by the lower bearing assembly 40 and the upper bearing assembly 42. The inner housing 43 is provided with an out-turned flange 44 at its upper end. A support plate 45 rests on the flange 44 and is attached thereto by means of bolts 46. The inner rotating housing 43 has an annular outwardly extending ring gear 47 attached thereto The ring gear is engaged and driven by a worm gear 48 received in a housing 49 provided in the sidewall of the nonrotating housing 32.

As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the lifting frame assembly 26 is provided with an outwardly extending table 50 which is also attached to the nonrotating housing 32 by welding or other suitable means. An air motor 51 has an outwardly extending shaft which has a coupling 52 attaching it to the input shaft 53 of a multispeed gearbox designated generally by the numeral 54. The gearbox 54 is provided with an output shaft 55 having a coupling 52 attaching it to the worm gear 48 positioned inside the housing 49. The multispeed gearbox 54 is provided with a shift lever 56 whereby the rotational speed of the output shaft 55 may be varied.

A four-way air valve 57 is attached to a bracket 58 supported on the frame 20. The valve 57 controls the air supply to the air motor 51. A second four-way air valve 59 is also attached to bracket 58 and controls the air supply to another portion of the cleaning apparatus which will be subsequently described.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, the drive assembly for moving the high-pressure cleaning nozzles from the vertical to the horizontal direction, or vice versa, is generally designated by the reference numeral 60. The mechanism is mounted on a platform 61 that is positioned above the support assembly 31 by means of a plurality of support members 62. The lower end of each support member 62 is attached to the support plate 45 by welding or other suitable means. An air motor 63 (see FIG. 2) for the vertical-horizontal nozzle drive mechanism is mounted on platform 61, and by means of coupling 64 is attached to input drive shaft 65 of a multispeed gearbox 66. The gearbox output shaft 67 is connected to a ball screw actuator mechanism, designated generally by the numeral 68, which converts the rotary motion of shaft 67 into linear motion. As seen in FIG. 3, a nozzle actuator shaft 69 extends from the lower portion of the actuator mechanism 68 into the interior of the vessel. The ball screw actuator mechanism 68 is supported from its top surface by cross bracket 70 extending between two upstanding support members 71-71 that have their lower ends fixed to the platform 61. The lower part of the actuator mechanism projects through an opening 72 provided in the platform 61. An additional opening 73 provided in the top of bracket 70 whereby the upper end of nozzle actuator shaft 69 may reciprocate freely. A finger 74 is attached to the nozzle actuator shaft 69 by means of clamp 75. The outer end of this finger alternately makes contact with an upper, normally closed, two-way shut off valve 76 and a lower, normally closed, two-way shut off valve 77. These valves are supported by oppositely disposed brackets 7878. The multispeed gearbox 66 is provided with a shift lever 79 whereby the rotational speed of output shaft 67 can be varied thereby providing different speeds of movement for the nozzle actuator shaft 69 to the vertical or to the horizontal position.

As seen in FIG. 13, the ball screw actuator mechanism 68 is provided with a housing having an upper portion 159 and a lower portion 160. The upper portion of the housing is provided with an integrally formed mounting flange 161. The lower portion of the housing is threaded at its upper end and is mated with a threaded portion provided in the bottom of the upper portion 159 of the housing. A ball screw shaft 162 is received within the housing and has its lower end 163 projecting through an axial opening 164 provided in the bottom of the lower portion of the housing. A similar opening (not shown) is provided in the top surface of the mounting flange 161 whereby the shaft may move vertically through the housing. The shaft 162 provides a plurality helical groove 165 in its vertically extending cylindrical surface. A portion of the ball screw shaft 162 contained within the housing is surrounded by a rotatable mating nut 166. The nut provides a helical groove 167 in its interior wall matching the groove 165 provided in the shaft 162. A plurality of ball bearings 168 are received in the matching helical grooves 165 and 167. The nut 166 is provided with a helical tube 169 on its exterior surface for recirculating the ball bearings 168.

The lower end of the helical nut rests on the top race of lower roller bearings assembly 170 which is received in a recess 171 provided in the bottom of the lower section 160 of the housing. The upper end of the nut is fixed to an annular ring gear 172 which is driven by a worm gear 173. The worm gear is keyed into drive shaft 67. The upper end of nut 166 abuts a roller bearing assembly 174 carried by the mounting flange 161.

As shaft 67 rotates the worm gear 173 produces a rotation of the nut 166 by means of afiixed ring gear 172. Since the ball screw shaft 162 is prevented from rotating by virtue of being rigidly attached at its lower end to the nozzle assembly, when the nut 166 rotates the ball bearings move through the matching helical grooves 165 and 167 causing the shaft to move vertically through the housing 159. The ball bearings recirculate through the helical tube 169 from the top to the bottom of the nut 166, or vice versa, depending upon the direction of rotation of the nut.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 11 and 12, a fluid highpressure rotating joint assembly designated generally by the numeral 80, is mounted above the drive mechanism 60. The rotating joint is supported at the upper end of two upstanding high pressure fluid conduits 81 and 81a, by means of plug valves 5 82-82. A source of high-pressure cleaning fluid, for example, water, is supplied to the rotating joint through a flexible hose 83 attached by quick connect coupling 84 to a flange 85 provided at the outer end of inlet pipe 8 7. A pressure gauge 86 is provided at the other end of the inlet pipe 87. 1

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 11, the lower end of a tee section provided in the inlet pipe 87 is attached by welding or other means to the cylindrical core 88 of the rotating joint. The core 88 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore 89 extending substantially the full length of the core and terminating in a smaller size axial bore 90 at the bottom thereof. Opposed radial openings 9191 are provided in the sidewall of the cylindrical core 88. The rotating joint includes a rotating generally cylindrical body member 92 having an 2 axial opening extending therethrough which receives the nonrotating cylindrical core 88. The body 92 is provided with a cap 93 at its lower end which is removably attached by means of capscrews 94. The cap provides a cylindrical opening which receives the lower end of the cylindrical core 88. A plurality of 25 high-pressure packing rings 95 are provided between the inner wall of the rotating body 92 and the outer wall of the core 88.

A compression spring 96 is disposed between the upper and lower sets of packing rings to maintain two sets of rings under compression. Oppositely disposed radial openings 97 are pro- 30 vided in the body 92 to permit drainage of fluid that bypasses the upper packing rings 95. The upper portion of the body 92 is provided with a hollow interior 98. A lower bearing assembly 99 is mounted in the hollow interior and couples the nonrotating core 88 to the rotating body 80. A similar upper 35 bearing assembly 100 is provided in the hollow interior 98 and is coupled to the core 88 by means of upper and lower snap rings 101. An annular removable cap 102 anchors the outer race 1030f the bearing assembly to the upper portion of the body 92 by means of screws 104. Oil seal rings 105 are carried 40 by the cap 102 and also in a recessed portion of the body 92 at the lower end of the hollow interior 98. Grease fittings 106 are provided for lubrication of the upper an lower bearing assemblies.

A left-hand outlet elbow 107 is attached to the lower por- 45 tion of the body 92. Radial opening 108 is provided in the side wall of body 92 in continuous communication with the radial opening 91 provided in the core 88. A fluid passage 109 provided in elbow 107 connects with the opening in 108. A similar right-hand outlet elbow 110 is provided on the righthand side of the body 92 and has a corresponding fluid passage 109a,aligned with opening 108a, in body 92.

A pipe 111 extends through the center of the axial bore 89 and has its upper end weldably attached and passing through inlet pipe 87 and its lower end suitably attached by either welding or threads in a recess provided in the lower portion of the core'88 whereby the opening in the pipe 111 communicates with the axial bore 90 provided in the end of the core. Air for the operation of the air motor is carried through pipe 60 l 1 1.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 12, oppositely disposed brackets 112 are attached to the sides of inlet pipe 87 by welding or other suitable means. A tie rod 113 has one end attached to the bracket 112 and the opposite end is anchored to 5 the upper framework 26. The tie rods and associated brackets prevent movement of the nonrotating or fixed inlet pipe 87, cylindrical core 88 and air inlet pipe 111. The remaining portions of the highpressure rotating joint assembly are free to rotate around the foregoing fixed portions.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the high-pressure fluid is conducted to the interior of the vessel 21 through a lefthand conduit 81 and a right-hand conduit 81a. Each of these conduits has an elbow section that rests on top of support plate 45 thereby providing support for the high-pressure rotat- 75 ing joint 80. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the fluid conduits 81 and 81a, extend through the opening provided in the inner rotating cylindrical housing 43 into the interior of the vessel. They are removably coupled to lower extensions thereof by means of high-pressure clamp joints 115. The upper ends of a pair of tubular support members 116-116 are wcldably attached to the lower surface of support plate 45. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 7, these two tubular support members, together 0 with the high pressure conduit extensions 81 and 81a, provide a generally rectangular support frame for mounting the high pressure nozzle assemblies, designated generally by the reference numeral 117. As seen in FIG. 1, the nozzle assemblies are mounted on the tubular frame so that one nozzle assembly cleans the upper one-half of the vessel and the other nozzle assembly the lower one-half of the vessel. It is understood, however, that only one nozzle assembly may be used or a multiplicity of nozzle assemblies can be used, depending on the length of the vessel to be cleaned.

AS seen in FIGS. 1 and 7 through 9, the nozzle assembly 117 is mounted between two opposed brackets 118-118 carried between the tubular support members 116 16 and the high-pressure conduits 81 and 81a. A pillow block 119 is mounted on the bracket extending between the tubular support members 116-116 and attached thereto by bolts 120. High-pressure swivel joint 121 is mounted on the bracket extending between high-pressure conduits 81-810 and is attached thereto by means of bolts 120. The upper high-pressure nozzle assembly 117 is coupled to high-pressure conduit 81 by means of flexible hose 122 which has its lower end terminating in elbow 123 forming a stationery part of the rotating swivel joint 121. A rotatable shaft 124 extends from the swivel joint 121 and has its closed end received in pillow block 119. The shaft 124 has a hollow interior (not shown) which receives highpressure fluid from the flexible hose 122 and conducts it through the hollow interior (not shown) of radial extension 125 to the nozzle head 126. The fluid is ejected through oppositely disposed nozzles 153-153. Oppositely disposed brackets 127 and 127a, are fixedly attached to rotatable shaft 124. The lower end of the nozzle actuator shaft 69 is pivotably attached to the upper bracket 127a and the upper end of a second extension of shaft 69 is attached to the other bracket 127. As seen in FIG. 1, the second extension to the nozzle actuator shaft 69 extends between the upper nozzle assembly 117 and the lower nozzle assembly 1170. Another flexible hose 122 connects the lower nozzle assembly to righthand conduit 81a.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 9 and 10, the operation of the cleaning device of the present invention is substantially automatic once the cleaning device has been positioned on the vessel to be cleaned. The protective collar 35 is first placed around the top of the manway 25 and then the lower portion of the cleaning apparatus is lowered into the vessels by means of a chain hoist or other suitable means. The flexible highpressure water line 83 is attached by means of quick connect coupling 84 and a source of air pressure is connected to the inlet pipe 128. If desired, a water filter may be provided in water line 83.

Plug valves 82-82 are in the closed position. If it is desired to utilize maximum pressure in cleaning the vessel, the upper and lower nozzle assemblies are operated sequentially, thus either the leftor right-hand plug valve may be opened to energize either the upper or lower nozzle assembly first.

As seen in FIG. 10, an air cleaner 129 and an oiler 130 are provided in inlet air liner 128 to clean and saturate the compressed air prior to use in the cleaning apparatus. Inlet line 128 terminates in a T where one supply line 131 leads to air motor 51 which controls the rotation of the cleaner about the vertical axis of the vessel. The four-way valve 57 controls the air supply to the air motor 51. An airflow control valve 132 is provided in line 131 whereby the speed of air motor may be controlled. An exhaust line 133 leads from air motor 51 to muffler 134. A second air supply line 135 leads from the T in line 128 through the second four-way valve 59 to the air supply pipe 111 which extends through the rotating joint as sembly 80. A small rotating joint 136 is provided on the bottom extension of pipe 111 and is connected by flexible line 137 to supply line 138 which supplies primary air to the nozzle angle elevation air motor 63. A second four-way air valve 59 is provided in supply line 138 to control the direction of airflow to the nozzle rotation drive motor 63. Supply line 139 leads from one of the ports in valve 59 and is provided with an airflow control valve 140 therein. Check valve 141 is also provided in branch line 139a, and a two-way air-piloted shutoff valve 148 is provided in branch line 139b, downstream of valve 140. A second air supply line 142 leads from another port in valve 59 and also has provided therein an airflow control valve 143, a check valve 144 in branch line 1420', and a two-way air-piloted shutoff valve 149 in branch line 142b. An exhaust line 145 leads from another port in valve 59 and has attached to its end air muffler 146. By moving the manual control handle 147 on the four-way control valve the direction of airflow may be controlled whereby air flows into drive motor 63 through line 139 and exhausts through line 142 and vice versa.

Air supply line 139 is provided between control valve 140 and air motor 63 with two branches, 139a, containing the check valve 141 and l39b having a two-way air-piloted valve 148 which controls the nozzle angle elevation motor 63 to move the nozzle assemblies from the horizontal to the vertical position. The alternate air supplyexhaust line 142 is also provided with a similar branched arrangement wherein the first branch 142a, has the check valve 144 and the second branch 142b, is provided with a like two-way air-piloted control valve 149 which controls the supply of air to the nozzle angle elevation motor 63 to move the nozzle assemblies from the vertical to the horizontal position. Piloted valve 149 is controlled by air supplied by line 156 leading from the cam-operated, normally closed, two-way valve 150. A like two-way, camoperated, normally closed air valve 51 controls the air supply through line 157 to piloted valve 148 for vertical motion control on the nozzles. Valves 150 and 151 are supplied with pilot air by means ofline 152 leading from air supply line 138.

At the beginning of the cleaning operation on any particular vessel, the cam finger 74 may be in the upper position where it is in contact with two way valve 150 indicating that the nozzle head is in the horizontal position as seen in FIG. 9. If the cam finger is in this position, the manual lever 147 is turned to the position marked vertical" so that airflow is directed through valve 59 to drive air motor 63 in a direction to provide downward movement of nozzle actuator shaft 69 to thereby rotate the nozzle head 126 from the horizontal to the vertical position as seen in dotted outline in FIG. 9. If at the beginning of the cleaning position the cam finger 74 is in the downward position in contact with two-way valve 151, the manual control arm 147 is rotated to lposition marked horizontal" whereby the air motor 63 will drive the ball screw actuator assembly to raise nozzle actuator shaft 69 thereby moving the noule assemblies from the vertical position, as seen in dotted outlines in FIG. 9, to the horizontal position. When the nozzle assemblies have made one complete transversal of the arcuate path covered by the angle alpha shown in FIG. 9, the fingers will contact either valve 150 or 151 and supply air to either piloted valve 148 or 149 to shut off airflow through either line 139 or 142 and stop the motor 63. The manual control lever 147 is then switched to the other position to repeat the cleaning process if desired. As seen in FIG. 9, the length of movement of the nozzle actuator shaft 69 is controlled to preferably provide movement of the nozzle heads 126 through an arc of at least 125 thereby providing an overlap of approximately in the wall area of the vessel cleaned by any one of the individual nozzles 153 provided on opposite ends of the cleaning heads 126.

As described hereinbefore, the apparatus of the present invention may be provided with one or more nozzle assemblies 117. While the forms of the cleaning device exemplified in the drawings utilized two nozzle assemblies 117, the invention is not limited to the use of this number of nozzle assemblies. It is understood that in elongated, cylindrical vessels it may be desirable to use more than two nozzle assemblies in order to adequately clean the vessel. In short, cylindrical vessels it may be advantageous to use only one nozzle assembly having oppositely directed nozzles. As explained before, by means of the plug valves 82 provided in each of the high-pressure fluid inlet conduits 81 and 810, the apparatus may be operated either with single operation of either the upper or lower nozzle assembly or simultaneous operation of the two assemblies. In vessels having particularly tenacious material adhering to the walls thereof, it has been found desirable to utilize maximum hydraulic pressure emanating from the individual nozzles 153 provided on the head 126. Thus, operation of a single nozzle assembly 117 is desirable in this case. When material on the walls of the vessel is rather easily removed, lower pressure may be utilized and thus simultaneous operation of the upper and lower nozzle assemblies 1171 17 may be utilized. It is obvious that operation of both nozzle assemblies will result in a lower pressure for the individual streams emanating from the multiplicity of nozzles 153. The pressure at which the apparatus of the present invention is operated will, of course, be determined by the pressure source of the cleaning fluid supplied through inlet line 83. While pressure will vary depending on the cleaning operation to be performed by the apparatus, an exemplary cleaning apparatus constructed in conformance with the foregoing description for cleaning cylindrical autoclaves used for the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride was constructed for operation at a maximum pressure of 9,000 p.s.i.g. A high-pressure pump (not shown) was utilized which was capable of developing a static pressure of 5,000 p.s.i.g. when the cleaning fluid was ambient temperature water.

As can be seen in FIG. 9, each nozzle head 126 sweeps a continually elevationally changing spiral on the interior surface of the vessel 21 by means of the continually changing arcuate angle alpha and the continued rotation of the apparatus around the longitudinal axis of the vessel 21. The axial rotation of the cleaning assembly in the direction of the arrow 154 causes the high-pressure fluid jet 158 emanating from each nozzle 153 to contact a continually changing area of the interior surface 22 of the vessel 21 throughout the cleaning operation. By providing for a slight overlap in the area cleaned by the hydraulic fluid jet 158 emanating from each nozzle 153, there can be no surface area on the interior of the vessel which is not contacted by a high velocity stream of cleaning fluid.

The particular cleaning fluid used in the apparatus of the present invention will be determined by the nature of the material on the interior surface of the vessel 21. In the exemplary form of the device constructed for cleaning polyvinyl chloride autoclaves, high-pressure water has been found to be a satisfactory cleaning fluid. However, other cleaning materials such as chlorinated materials, hydrocarbon solvents, or other fluids, may be used in the apparatus of the present invention. The present cleaning apparatus is particularly suited for use with flammable cleaning solvents since the apparatus is actuated entirely by air operated devices, no danger of explosion exists from electrical drive mechanisms.

The cleaning device of the present invention provides an extremely efficient apparatus for removing deposits from the walls of cylindrical vessels, particularly from the walls of autoclaves used in the manufacture of synthetic resins. The device has been found especially suitable for removing polyvinyl chloride deposits from autoclaves used in suspension and emulsion polymerization of homo and copolymers of vinyl chloride. The device is rugged and easy to maintain and has been found to require very low maintenance. It has the advantage that it can be handled and operated by one man using a conventional chain hoist. It has a further advantage that it provides a high degree of flexibility in the degree of cleaning applied to the interior walls of a cylindrical vessel. The apparatus also achieves a high degree of cleaning efficiency of a vessel without requiring that the vessel be entered by workmen.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof and other modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention is to be limited only by the !scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of a fluid under pressure, the combination comprising:

a. a generally rectangular upper framework for lifting said apparatus;

b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to the lower end of said upper framework, said assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion;

c. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid mounted above and attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly;

d. at least two conduits for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said support assembly into the interior of said vessel;

e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to each of said conduits through a second rotatable joint and mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel;

a linking assembly attached at its lower portion to said nozzle assemblies and having its upper end extending above the rotatable portion of said support assembly;

g. a first device assembly connected to the upper end of said linking assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel; and

h. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel.

2. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of fluid under pressure, the combination comprising:

a. a generally rectangular upper framework for lifting said apparatus;

b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to the lower end of said upper framework, said assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion;

0. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid mounted above and attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly;

d. at least one conduit for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said support assembly into the interior of said vessel;

e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to said conduit through a second rotatable joint and mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel;

t. a linking assembly attached at its lower end to said nozzle assembly and having its upper end extending above the rotatable portion of said support assembly;

g. a first drive assembly connected to the upper end of said linking assembly whereby said nozzle assembly can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel, said first drive assembly including a rotary to linear motion converter whereby said linking assembly may be moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said vessel; and

h. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assembly,

together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel. 7 3. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of a fluid under pressure, the combination comprising:

a. an upper framework for lifting said apparatus; b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to said upper framework, aid assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion; c. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly;

d. at least two conduits for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said assembly into the interior of said vessel;

e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to and communicating with each of said conduits mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel;

f. a linking assembly attached to said nozzle assemblies and to a first drive assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel; and

g. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 where at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the upper portion of said vessel and at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the lower portion of said vessel.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is provided with at least two oppositely directed ports for ejecting said fluid against the interior walls of said vessel.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said first drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate at which said nozzle head assemblies move about the radial axis of said vessel can be varied.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the second drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate of rotation of said nozzle head assemblies about the longitudinal axis of said vessel may be varied.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 where at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the upper portion of said vessel and at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the lower portion of said vessel.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is provided with at least two oppositely directed ports for ejecting said fluid against the interior walls of said vessel.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate at which said nozzle head assemblies move about the radial axis of said vessel can be varied.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate of rotation of said nozzle head assemblies about the longitudinal axis of said vessel may be varied.

12. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein a cutoff device for said first drive assembly is provided which is adapted to be actuated by said linking assembly to stop said first drive assembly after said linking assembly moves said nozzle head assembly through a predetermined are.

@32 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 5, 595, 5 Dated 7-27-71 Inventor) Robert E. Waltman, Charles A Cook, Carl R. Hillman It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 60, reads 9O should read 9O Column 2, line 65, reads "Description of the Preferred Embodiments", should be spaced as title.

Column 5, line +9, reads xsugporting", should read --supported--. Column 5, line 13, reads an should read and golumn g, fine 2g, reags xig ld', higl ga l o umn ne rea s shou rea Column 9, line 28, reads "device", should read drive Column 10, line 8, reads "aid", should read said Signed and sealed this 6th day of June 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of a fluid under pressure, the combination comprising: a. a generally rectangular upper framework for lifting said apparatus; b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to the lower end of said upper framework, said assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion; c. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid mounted above and attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly; d. at least two conduits for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said support assembly into the interior of said vessel; e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to each of said conduits through a second rotatable joint and mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel; f. a linking assembly attached at its lower portion to said nozzle assemblies and having its upper end extending above the rotatable portion of said support assembly; g. a first device assembly connected to the upper end of said linking assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel; and h. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies , together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel.
 2. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of fluid under pressure, the combination comprising: a. a generally rectangular upper framework for lifting said apparatus; b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to the lower end of said upper framework, said assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion; c. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid mounted above and attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly; d. at least one conduit for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said support assembly into the interior of said vessel; e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to said conduit through a second rotatable joint and mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel; f. a linking assembly attached at its lower end to said nozzle assembly and having its upper end extending above the rotatable portion of said support assembly; g. a first drive assembly connected to the upper end of said linking assembly whereby said nozzle assembly can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel, said first drive assembly including a rotary to linear motion converter whereby said linking assembly may be moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said vessel; and h. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assembly, together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel.
 3. In an apparatus for cleaning the interior of a vessel by means of a fluiD under pressure, the combination comprising: a. an upper framework for lifting said apparatus; b. a support assembly for supporting said apparatus on said vessel attached to said upper framework, aid assembly having a rotatable portion and a fixed portion; c. a first high-pressure rotating joint assembly for supplying said fluid attached to said rotatable portion of said support assembly; d. at least two conduits for said fluid extending from said rotating joint through said rotatable portion of said assembly into the interior of said vessel; e. at least one nozzle head assembly connected to and communicating with each of said conduits mounted to be movable around the radial axis of said vessel; f. a linking assembly attached to said nozzle assemblies and to a first drive assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies can be moved about the radial axis of said vessel; and g. a second drive assembly coupled to the rotatable portion of said support assembly whereby said nozzle assemblies together with the other assemblies attached to said rotatable portion, can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said vessel.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 where at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the upper portion of said vessel and at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the lower portion of said vessel.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is provided with at least two oppositely directed ports for ejecting said fluid against the interior walls of said vessel.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said first drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate at which said nozzle head assemblies move about the radial axis of said vessel can be varied.
 7. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the second drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate of rotation of said nozzle head assemblies about the longitudinal axis of said vessel may be varied.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 where at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the upper portion of said vessel and at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is positioned to clean the lower portion of said vessel.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of said nozzle head assemblies is provided with at least two oppositely directed ports for ejecting said fluid against the interior walls of said vessel.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate at which said nozzle head assemblies move about the radial axis of said vessel can be varied.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second drive assembly is provided with a transmission whereby the rate of rotation of said nozzle head assemblies about the longitudinal axis of said vessel may be varied.
 12. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein a cutoff device for said first drive assembly is provided which is adapted to be actuated by said linking assembly to stop said first drive assembly after said linking assembly moves said nozzle head assembly through a predetermined arc. 